AUTHORS INTERVIEWING THEIR CHARACTERS; Amy Blumenfeld

Interview with Becca Scardino from THE CAST, by Amy Blumenfeld

Becca, thank you for taking the time to chat with us.

My pleasure! Thanks for having me.

So, how does it feel to have a book written about your group of friends?

Surreal. Honestly, I laughed the first time Amy approached us with the idea. I’m a fairly private person so I was prepared to decline the offer. My friends, on the other hand, don’t shy from the spotlight and thought it would be cool, so I was out voted!

What is it about this group that makes for such a compelling story?

On the surface, we’re just a bunch of childhood friends who have stayed in touch into adulthood. But if you peek beneath the surface, there is a reason we all feel tethered to one another. We shared a very scary, very real, and very formative experience as kids and I suspect that when something like that happens – when you are in the trenches together and nearly lose one of your own at such a young age – it has a real impact. Our lives have gone in different directions over the last 25-plus years, but we’ll always be connected and considered a family.

There is a Saturday Night Live-style videotape that is at the heart of this book. Can you tell me about that tape and why it is so important?

Becca Night Live was the videotape my friends made for me when I had cancer in ninth grade. They knew they couldn’t cure me with medicine so they did the next best thing; they made a ninety-minute videotape of silly skits and musical numbers to keep me laughing through my treatment and recovery. It worked! The day they visited me in the hospital to deliver that tape was one of those scenes that will forever be seared into my memory. They put on sterile masks, gowns, caps, booties, and latex gloves and steeled themselves to enter that room. I knew they were scared out of their minds but they sat beside my bed, beside the iv pole with all the dangling tubes, and we spent the afternoon watching the tape and howling with laughter.

What an incredible gift – both the tape as well as their true, steadfast friendship.

Absolutely. The video was the most thoughtful, generous, and helpful thing they could have done. It was exactly what I needed and their friendship really kept me afloat during that time.

In addition to your friends, your husband, Nolan, plays a prominent role in the book. How did you two meet?

Nolan and I met at the very end of college. We’d spent four years walking the same campus, eating in the same dining halls, studying in the same libraries, and somehow never met until “senior week” – the celebratory last week of school leading up to graduation. One of the organized events that week was a version of the old game show “The Dating Game.” I was selected to be the bachelorette and Nolan was one of the three bachelors sitting behind a screen. You can guess which one I chose…

Much of this book takes place over the course of a summer weekend. What was it like to reunite with everyone and their spouses under one roof?

(Long pause…) Hmmm…That’s a good question. It was certainly very special to have that face-to-face quality time for three solid days instead of communicating via text or email which constitutes ninety percent of our interaction. So, in that sense, it was fantastic. My friend Jordana spent months planning this shindig at her weekend home in the Berkshires and I knew it would be beautiful and very Martha Stewart-ish. But when you share physical space for an extended period of time, you realize no one’s life is as perfect or uncomplicated as it appears – even the people you think you know best.

What happened over the weekend to make you feel that way?

A lot. I guess the simplest way to put it is that each one of us seemed to be at a crossroads. Whether it was marital, medical, religious, parenting, or career – something was shifting for all of us. And what was most fascinating to me was that in each case there was no obvious correct answer. No one faced a black or white type of situation – we were all trying to navigate the grey areas and do the right thing even though there was no “right” or “wrong” solution.

The novel ends one year after the reunion and all your lives appear to have changed significantly as a result of the events and decisions made over the course of that weekend.

I truly never would have predicted any of the situations or choices we all faced.

Does anyone have regrets?

I can’t say. I hope you’ll read The Cast and find out.

Thank you very much for speaking with us today.

My pleasure! Thank you for having me!

—

Amy Blumenfeld’s articles and essays have appeared in various publications, including The New York Times, The Huffington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, George, and Moment, as well as on the cover of People. She is a graduate of Barnard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she was the recipient of the James A. Wechsler Award for National Reporting. She has been interviewed on the CBS Evening News, FOX News, MSNBC, and NY1, and has contributed to two non-fiction books. She lives in New York with her husband and daughter. This is her first novel.

Follow her on Twitter @AmyBlumenfeld

Find out more about her on her Website http://amyblumenfeld.com/

About THE CAST

2018 IPPY Gold Medal Winner in Popular Fiction
2018 International Book Awards Finalist in Best New Fiction
Included in NY Post’s “The week’s best books”, August 2018 * HelloGiggles * Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke’s best books

Twenty-five years ago, a group of ninth graders produced a Saturday Night Live–style videotape to cheer up their ailing friend. The show’s running time was only ninety minutes, but it had a lasting impact: Becca laughed her way through recovery, and the group―Jordana, Seth, Holly, and Lex―became her supporting cast for life.

On the silver anniversary of Becca Night Live, the friends reunite over the Fourth of July to celebrate Becca’s good health―but nothing goes as planned. The happy holiday card facades everyone’s been hiding behind quickly crumble and give way to an unforgettable three days filled with complex moral dilemmas and life-altering choices. Through humor, drama, and the alternating perspectives of five characters, The Cast explores the power of forgiveness, the importance of authenticity, and the immeasurable value of deep, enduring friendships to buoy us when life plays out differently than expected.

“[A] promising debut . . . Blumenfeld manages to instill real depth into her characters, making them instantly relatable and sympathetic . . . The author’s love and attention to her cast really makes the novel shine. A deceptively simple tale that packs an emotional punch.”
―Kirkus Reviews

“[An] absorbing debut…Blumenfeld writes with wit, verve, and heart.”
―Booklist

“A dazzling debut that challenges the boundaries of longstanding friendships. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll relate. But, most of all, you’ll wish it would never end.”
―Emily Liebert, USA Today bestselling author of Some Women

“Brimming with tenderness, humor and heart, The Cast expertly explores how the experiences in childhood forever shape our adulthood. Blumenfeld has created richly-drawn characters who are flawed and relatable and easy to root for despite their mistakes. This is a must-read!”
―Elyssa Friedland, author of The Intermission

 

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, Interviews, On Writing